Max Power

By Jesse Liebman

Editorial. Photos by AP News

Without being an understatement, hockey is the one professional sport that requires every player to play to the best of their ability if a coach wants to get the wheels of success turning. The strength of a winning team lies not in their superstars but in a universal commitment to the system the coach employs.

Each team in this year’s Stanley Cup final boasts such players.

In Pittsburgh they call him “Mad Max,” but Maxime Talbot had every reason to smile after Tuesday’s victory over Detroit, that gave the Penguins their first victory in the series. The forward scored two big goals in Game 3, and has added a new offensive dimension to his game while still continuing to hound the Red Wing’s offensive stars.

It’s players like Talbot that take the pressure off of superstars such as Sidney Crosby, who has been held to just one assist and is a minus-2 through the series. That doesn’t mean Crosby has been lacking – every athlete gets a few bad bounces – but someone nevertheless needs to step up when a team’s go-to guys are having trouble hitting the back of the net.

When character players such as Talbot are inserted into line combinations with elite players such as the Pens’ Evgeni Malkin, you get positive results on and off the ice. That’s why you see the shy Malkin having a joke his teammate’s expense during Tuesday’s post-game press conference.

“Yeah, [Talbot has] a little bit bad hands,” Malkin deadpanned while his teammates were doubled over with laughter. “He has a lot of scoring chance and not score – just empty net. It’s okay, he learn over summer.”

Really, when was the last time anyone ever heard more than two words of English from the timorous Russian? Never, as veteran Bill Guerin attests.

“It’s kind of obvious when he’s going to carve somebody because he goes right from English into Russian,” Guerin said. “That’s one side I don’t think people understand, but he’s got a great sense of humor.”

Another strong character player who has made waves this year is defenseman Rob Scuderi. Scuderi has never tallied more than one goal in a season, but has played remarkably in shutting down Detroit’s high-octane offense.

The boys from Motown are no slouches either.

For the Red Wings, it’s been players such as relatively unknown Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm who have elevated their game to new levels this postseason. It was Helm who propelled Detroit into the finals with an overtime winner against the Blackhawks, and the twenty-two year-old Abdelkader who has become the first rookie to score a goal in consecutive finals games since Dino Cicarelli did it with the Minnesota North Stars in 1981.

For a guy who has yet to even have his own locker room stall, let alone score in the regular season, it’s been a pretty fun ride so far for Abdelkader.

“I’m just going about my daily business,” Abdelkader said. “Maybe in the summer I can reflect on everything. I’m just trying to live in the moment.”